Salesforce will soon operate a new aerial tram from it's Salesfoce Plaza to the transit center's rooftop garden as part of the new Transbay Transit Center on Wednesday, May 9, 2018 in San Francisco, Calif.. The tram will open to the public later this summer.

Photo: Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle

Yet another alternative form of transportation is coming to San Francisco.

A new mini aerial tram — stretching half a football field in length — will begin transporting people from a plaza outside the new Salesforce Tower to the 5.4-acre park atop the Transbay Transit Center.

The ski-lift-like tram, which can carry up to 20 passengers at a time, is nearing completion off Mission and Fremont street, and will add a bit of dramatic flair to the fast-changing downtown neighborhood.

“We are excited to bring forth the first (modern) gondola in San Francisco,” said Helen Han, spokeswoman for Boston Properties, the owner of the Salesforce Tower, which will own and operate the tram.

More than 50 years ago, a privately operated Sky Tram carried up to 25 passengers at a time on a scenic four-minute ride over Seal Rocks, between the Cliff House and Point Lobos. But interest faded after a decade, and it was shut down in the mid-1960s and dismantled.

Nobody is saying how much Boston Properties is spending on the gondola — a project the developer was required to take on when it acquired the rights to build its tower next to the transit center.

But Han said the tram will be free of charge to the public. It will operate whenever the rooftop garden is open — between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. during the fall and winter months, and 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. during spring and summer.

The public will also be able to reach the rooftop garden directly from a pair of escalators inside the transit terminal.

Of course, the opening of the $2.4 billion transit hub and garden has been delayed until this summer — which means, for the time being, both the escalators and gondola won’t be moving anybody.

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